Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Project Proposal Notes

This plan is a
lifestyle adjustment. An outdoor-oriented approach replaces the boring, repetitive
behaviors found in a gym with ever-shifting conditions found in local hiking
and other outdoor activities. It should result in an increase of physical and
mental health.

GOALS:

1. Complete a
fundamental lifestyle shift, from sessile to active.

2. Improve
cardiovascular health, improve mental health.

3. Integrate
my behaviors into the real world, escaping theory and into reality.

OBJECTIVES AND METHODS:

The
objective of this project is to escape the mental and physical diseases caused
by an immobile, overly-civilized lifestyle. By getting out of doors, away from
most electronics and media, and focusing on vigorous activities (mostly hiking)
at a frequency of approximately 2-4 times per week over several months and
extending into years, I hope to overcome the cancerous consequences ofmy troublingly scholastic and theory-ridden
past. Moreover, this self-driven program will trade dutiful, miserable time
spent in gyms for joy-filled privilege of reclaiming my inner-four-year-old’s
desires to skip down mountainsides.

The
method will be primarily to go on short, intense hikes with great frequency,
and document anecdotal endurance levels, dietary effects, and mood, as these
must change over time. I will also take advantage of adventurous opportunities
as they arise, such as infrequent caving, kayaking, dancing, etc.

LITERATURE INSPIRATION:

This project began when I saw Stephen Ilardi’s
TED talk, “Depression is a Disease of Civilization”. I determined that I could
use acquisitive impulses to drive myself into the wilderness in a natural,
non-obligatory way. Informed by William Kappele’s Rockhounding Utah, I
have looked into aggressively trudging around some wild terrain and picking up
some interesting baubles. The minerals provide a searchable objective, to keep
hands and feet in motion.